California judge lifts restraining order against chicken ritual just in time for Yom Kippur

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In this 2007 file photo, a member of the Hungarian Orthodox Jewish community reads from his prayer book during kapparot, a custom in which the sins of a person are symbolically transferred to a fowl, in the basement of an orthodox slaughterhouse in Budapest, Hungary. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

Just before sundown on Tuesday, when Yom Kippur began, a judge lifted a temporary restraining order that had prevented an Irvine synagogue from practicing a Jewish holiday ritual involving the slaughter of chickens.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. had granted the restraining order filed by the Virginia-based United Poultry Concerns, which alleges that Chabad of Irvine is violating state law during its annual ritual of kapparot.

Kapparot is practiced in some traditional Orthodox Jewish communities. A chicken is swung over someone’s head to symbolize the person’s sins being transferred to the bird. The chicken is then slaughtered in a kosher manner.

The judge granted Chabad Irvine’s request to lift the order so it could practice the ritual during Yom Kippur, which ends Wednesday evening.

The ruling, which only impacted Chabad Irvine, means the synagogue could practice without being required to perform the ritual at a slaughterhouse.

It was unclear on Tuesday whether the Chabad planned on performing the ritual.

“We are grateful to Judge Birotte for taking emergency action to ensure that the Jewish synagogue members’ First Amendment rights were safeguarded during Yom Kippur,” Matthew Martens, an attorney for the synagogue, said in a statement.

In the lawsuit, Irvine attorney David Simon and San Diego attorney Bryan Pease allege that Chabad Irvine violates penal codes prohibiting any “intentional and malicious” killing of an animal not used for food.

“The fact that the temporary restraining order is lifted doesn’t say anything about the merits of the case,” Pease said. “The lawsuit will continue and the judge will continue to look at the legal issues.”

A similar lawsuit against Chabad Irvine, also filed by Simon and Pease on behalf of the San Diego-based Animal Protection and Rescue League, is making its way through state court.

Jewish leaders have maintained that the slaughter of the chickens is done in a humane fashion. If done at a slaughterhouse, the meat can be legally consumed.

Rabbi David Eliezrie, president of the Rabbinical Council of Orange County and Long Beach, said Jews are being unfairly targeted.

“What scares me is a group with a very radical agenda against Americans of all backgrounds consuming meat of any kind is using Jewish tradition as a target to advance their agenda,” he said. “Why not protest at Vons or Trader Joe’s because they’re also selling chicken?”

Eliezrie said some members of the Jewish community chose to practice the ceremony on Monday at a Westminster butcher shop, which is in accordance with the law. They were met by a handful of protesters.

“Protesting only when Jews are slaughtering chickens at a poultry house, not the day before and not the day after, raises serious questions about the motives of these individuals,” he said.

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